Noma No More
By floor9 on Jun 4, 2006 in Downtown
Noma, the on-again, off-again, soup kitchen, not soup kitchen, martini lounge, not martini lounge, beach club, not beach club, martini lounge again, is now not a martini lounge anymore. Open? Not so much. Apparently it’s being converted into a live concert venue to compete with The District. The interior will be basically gutted, and refinished with a faux painted cinder block look in order to provide a vibe similar to The District. Also bull riding.
No, that entire paragraph is completely false. I don’t know what’s going on with Noma, but it is closed as of last weekend. The “sign” is gone, the doors were shut, and nobody’s home. It’s sad, because Noma was a nice place. Red Noma wasn’t half bad either. With a little luck it will have been sold to someone who will show it a little more love. But given that building’s luck, it’s anyone’s guess.
On the plus side, the closure of Noma should free up two extra parking spaces on the weekend, so at least some good will come of it.
so i guess that beach club didnt work outt so well huh lol
burgi | Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
the ownership has definitely changed hands. the rumor is it will return to a restaurant.
they MUST reopen the vip / downstairs / vault area. i’ve had many intriguing (re: intoxicated) philosophical conversations on a saturday night in the booth in the heyday of downtown. the vault area was a respite from the chaos around the area; it was barely known to exist, which was great. i can’t believe it hasn’t been staffed for the last year plus.
cosby | Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
So is this [the closing of Noma] an indication of downtown nightspot attrition, or just a nightspot that has had struggles and it was simply time to close [or both]?
How many more businesses can 2nd Street support? It will be interesting to observe…..
Rich | Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
I think it was mostly due to a lack of traffic at Noma, which can be attributed to a lot of things. Ripping out a niche lounge just because it doesn’t get shoulder-to-shoulder packed really put a damper on things. I think so many Noma fans were frustrated over the whole beach club thing, followed by the cheapened-out exterior of Red Noma that the place failed to recapture any vibe it once had. Which is a shame.
I don’t think downtown is saturated — yet. However, as Dave said in another comment thread, we need more variety downtown. We don’t need 10 places playing the exact same music to the exact same crowd. Max’s is a breath of fresh air, and I patronize it every chance I get. I love that place. And I know I’m the odd guy out for saying this, but I think The Quarter still has potential.
We don’t need another venue for the same 4 bands to play every week. We don’t need another DJ spinning top 40 / mainstream hip hop. We don’t need any more “Central PA will NEVER be the same” commercials. And we sure as hell don’t need a lounge trying to appeal to an upscale, off-mainstream crowd while simultaneously using stick-on decals and that obnoxious bold yellow font for signage.
I’d say Noma had picked up such a bad reputation for itself that it’s time to close up shop and re-open under a different name with a different owner. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time around.
floor-9 | Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
sucked hard anyway…as the whole corridor is starting to do…I’m a city resident and homeowner, I do not want bars from Market Street to Forster…let’s get the next step of this started, where are the retail establishments, and the housing, there’s more than enough bars.
DB | Jun 6, 2006 | Reply
DB, I was just talking with someone about this the other day. Retail development won’t get started until there is sufficient (meaning inexpensive and centrally located) parking and more housing. Wasn’t there supposed to be a condo complex going up on the parking lot next to G-Man? I’m so behind the times.
floor-9 | Jun 6, 2006 | Reply
That blows. Noma was always my favorite. 2nd street has definitely lost it’s charm from several years ago. Everything is a theme park. Can anyone have any originality anymore?
Mike | Jun 6, 2006 | Reply
i believe harrisburg university is going in where the parking lot next to g-man is now.
i don’t think parking would be such a big issue if:
a) the meters around town weren’t constantly bagged for no apparent reason ALL THE TIME.
b) all the garages were open for business on weekends. i’d use the locust street garage if it were open; that’s very close to a lot of the nightspots.
c) the price of leaving your car in a garage overnight was significantly decreased, or in some cases… possible. i’ve parked on fourth and market to go downtown before because i don’t know if i’ll be back to get my car out of a garage promptly at 2am (which leads to poor decision making in terms of drinking and driving anyway).
cosby | Jun 6, 2006 | Reply
Yes, that spot belongs to HBG Univ. and they are building a 22-story bldg. there with parking, classrooms and a few dorms.
Wow, NOMA has closed?!?!? Okay, I am now thoroughly convinced that DT HBG’s nightlife is done for when it comes to variety. I know I should be a little more positive but I just don’t see anything good popping up, as things outside of the Hardware Bar realm is referred to by the locals as “gay” and they stress how they won’t be going there…ever. *yawn*
Unless one of you guys open a club, I don’t have any faith in HBG. Why don’t I come back and open one instead you ask? It’s just not worth it to me anymore. I already know what I would be up against, and there is no sense in catering to a crowd that has since left DT a long, long time ago…
RIP HBG, RIP. Very ironic to think I enjoyed the nightlife much better when there was but a mere handful of bars and clubs (e.g. The Vault days). :(
Dave | Jun 6, 2006 | Reply
Oh and I forgot to comment about the retail:
There is no demand for DT/city retail because the city limits are far, far too small and the ‘burbs have a stranglehold on the retail. The HBG area is very compact and one does not need to travel far to get what one wants; it makes no sense for a lot to be in the city right now. Also, I will go so far as to say the HBG metro is saturated with retail. Think about it: 3 Boscov’s within spitting distance of each other, soon to be two Targets in the same boat, etc. The only thing HBG needs is stuff it does not already have. A few things, sure, but that list has shrunk quite a bit over the years…
*Unless the city leaders get smart and plop a nice big grocery store DT, then things will change fast. You may laugh, but studies show that once a grocery store comes in people flock, as that is a neccessity people love to live near (not to mention if HBG wants to cater to International students and DT living, they need this for sure).
My advice would be for the city to carve out a niche market of things you simply can’t get anywhere else. But that takes business owners who are willing to gamble with their time and money, and unfortunately, the track record with niche stores in HBG is not so good…
Here is what I have to say to Harrisburg: commit 100% to being a big city and start living, acting and thinking that way and do a complete overhaul, or do a 180 from that and start being the best small town you can be (State College comes to mind in this category for example) and nothing more. The vortex HBG is caught in between these categories needs to go because it is killing it!!!
Dave | Jun 6, 2006 | Reply
When Noma was first opened, it enjoyed considerable success. As time wore on, patrons grew tired of the “same old, same old” and found other places. The owners and management decided to try something fresh by opening a theme lounge that hadn’t yet been done in Harrisburg. After breathing new life into, they reopened Noma with a fresh new vibe. After a long, successful run, Noma has been retired. How is this a bad thing?
Downtown | Jun 11, 2006 | Reply
My understanding is that when Noma switched hands it was destined to fail. Face lifts every 2 months did not help and when you have an owner only dedicated to sucking your wallet dry that is the consequence. Look for the old Mars to be next on the selling block.
Jeff | Jun 11, 2006 | Reply
Downtown, allow me to make a few corrections for you:
When Noma was first opened, it enjoyed considerable success. As time wore on, patrons grew tired of the
“same old, same oldâ€lack of specials and lack of people and found other places. The owners and management decided to trysomething freshan idea that was cool in 1983 by opening a theme lounge thathadn’t yet been donehas been beaten to death in Harrisburg. Afterbreathing new life intofailing miserably and thoroughly pissing off the original crowd, they reopened Noma with a fresh new vibe. After a long,successfulrun, Noma has been retired.How isthis is a bad thing?.floor-9 | Jun 11, 2006 | Reply
/\
LOL now THAT is what I think Downtown really meant to say. ;)
Dave | Jun 12, 2006 | Reply
MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY LOL
burgi | Jun 12, 2006 | Reply
Sexy bar goes hand and hand with culture and money. Until Central PA is able to attract industy to the area, it is going to be difficult to keep a cool bar around.
Sports Bars R Us | Jul 16, 2007 | Reply